NEW HPL FILM LOOKS PROMISING

The enduring popularity of H.P. Lovecraft is evident today more than ever. After weathering the fusillade fired against him from the prensentist press, his works instead have brought on more attention and activity from writers and filmmakers. One example is this movie from Dark Temple Motion Pictures, FREEZE, which looks like a version of the Innsmouth story set in the Antarctic (view trailer below).

From bloody-disgusting.com:

Headed our way this winter is the next horror movie from director Charlie Steeds (The Barge People), the Lovecraftian creature feature Freeze from Dark Temple Motion Pictures.

The arctic horror movie won the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival’s Best Film Award 2022, which gives it some legit Lovecraft cred. You can watch the official trailer for Freeze below.

“On a rescue mission to the North Pole to retrieve an old friend and his lost expedition crew, Captain Mortimer gets more than he bargained for when his ship is frozen into the ice sheet and set upon by bloodthirsty fish-creatures. Mortimer and his surviving crew flee the ship, beginning a treacherous journey to find safety in a frozen desolate wilderness.

“Suffering from starvation, frostbite and a slow madness, they find shelter inside a snowy mountain, but are they as safe as they think, or have they entered the heart of the creatures lair.”

Johnny Vivash, David Lenik, Beatrice Barrila, Rory Wilton, Jake Watkins, Ricardo Freitas, Sam Lane, Jaime Seal, Jay O’Connell, Simon Pengelly, Elliot Hadley and Tim Cartwright star.

This article discusses the possibility of a new "universe" centered around Cthulhu:

Why the Cthulhu Mythos Is Primed as the Next Big Horror Universe

Horror is going through a renaissance, and the Cthulhu Mythos could take the genre to new universes with darker beings and horrific creatures.

By Reece Taylor | August 29, 2022 | cbr.com

The horror genre is going through a golden age. Films like Hereditary and Get Out have shown mass audiences that horror can be thought-provoking and artistic. Both critics and box office numbers agree that thematic concepts and powerful stories are a welcome addition to Hollywood. In combination with this, no genre is known for sequels more than horror, but what about its potential for a cinematic universe?

Though The Conjuring Universe and the Universal Monsters are two of the most well-known, they present the good vs. evil dynamic that is already familiar. As audiences open up to more narrative-driven tales of the macabre, this form of storytelling must adapt. One well-known author has a series that challenges the notion of good vs. evil and takes terror to new dimensions: H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

Created by Lovecraft in the early 20th century, the Cthulhu Mythos presents horror as an existential threat as opposed to a purely malevolent threat. Though characters like Joseph Curwen and the great Cthulhu represent a tangible fear that horror is known for, Lovecraftian horror represents an existential fear and horrors beyond comprehension. The beings that exist within this universe aren't inherently evil, but their existence is more than what humans can understand, and their motives and appearance are completely alien, which makes Lovecraft difficult to adapt. Now that film companies have the budget and imagination to display them onscreen, these ideas can be interpreted visually.

2019's The Color Out of Space, starring Nicolas Cage, is an adaptation of Lovecraft's Mythos that shows how these concepts can be imagined. The film portrays a family affected by a living form of radiation energy that can only be conceptualized as "the Color."Landing on a farm, the Color emerged from a meteorite and attached itself to every living thing and drained the life from them. The humans in the film slowly descend into madness as the Color gains more influence over them and the environment around them transforms. Though the story was modernized from its late-1800s setting in the story, the themes and alienation of the book stayed true and terrifying.

The film takes the idea of the Color and portrayed it as a Technicolor energy using the color magenta. Using a color that doesn't occur naturally gives the audience an uncanny visual and is a clever way to present the being. The Color itself is the antagonist but isn't traditionally evil, as it's in a world alien to itself. It's a being that happened to land on Earth and interact with its surroundings, which is horrifying in the sense that it's far more powerful than humans and lacks a clear motive or reason. The characters in The Color Out of Space are victims of cosmic forces that just happened to come across them. As an adaptation, it understands what Lovecraftian horror represents.

The Color is on the lower end of the power spectrum in the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraftian horror is full of infinitely powerful beings whose sheer presence would drive people mad. In the Lovecraftian universe, beings called the Great Old ones -- of which Cthulhu is a member of -- are in the middle of the scale. The most powerful beings are the Outer Gods. The characters in the Mythos have had limited contact with them, outside of one, which could tie the universe together. In an expanded film, Outer Gods like Yog-Sothoth present a being of infinite knowledge, which is locked out of the physical universe, the all-powerful Azathoth, whose dreams people exist in, and one of the few outright malicious beings in the universe, the Crawling Chaos, Nyarlathotep.

Though Cthulhu is the namesake of the universe, Nyarlathotep is one of the most prominent characters and one that would be a central villain in a cinematic universe. Though most of the entities in the mythos are apathetic to human existence, Nyarlathotep has taken an interest in humans and has malicious intent. Within the mythos, he's devious, smart, and delights in the suffering of others along with nearly infinite power. Nyarlathotep is arguably the most powerful non-Azathoth entity and often lives with humans. One of his most prominent powers is transformation and communication, which means he can turn into any form and speak any language. This allows him to actively influence people and drive them to unspeakable acts. This is particularly dangerous since he has the power to bring the Outer Gods into reality. Through films, he could take on any appearance and lead people astray or to other cosmic horrors for his own delight. Nyarlathotep's ability can even take place in a series of loosely connected films to form the cinematic universe.

Still, the humans within the universe can be just as frightening, as they're willing to do horrific things to gain access to forbidden knowledge and everlasting life. Among notable humans in the Cthulhu Mythos, Joseph Curwen in "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" was a man who gained ability by doing spells with Yog-Sothoth and committed nefarious acts. Characters with complex arcs exist all throughout the Mythos and are ripe for potential stories.

In creating a Cthulhu Mythos universe onscreen, there are numerous tales that are connected through setting, beings, and artifacts. Set in coastal New England, films could take place in similar areas without actively drawing central characters near each other, allowing for their tales to remain contained. Artifacts like the Necronomicon, the Book of the Dead, can float freely through films and allow connections to be more anecdotal. Themes of forbidden knowledge work better in this sense if few have lived to interact with the objects. These themes have already been introduced in Lovecraftian films such as Aliens and Annihilation, both of which combined stunning visuals with strong stories.

Audiences looking toward horror more favorably in recent years helped open the door for The Color Out of Space and a Cthulhu Universe, but with the source material, there are already directions for the franchise to continue. "The Dunwich Horror" gives a mix of forbidden knowledge with a physical being of the titular horror. "At the Mountains of Madness" is waiting to be made by Guillermo del Toro and could potentially open the franchise further. An adaptation of "The Dreams in the Witch House" would introduce Nyarlathotep to the series and expand the universe into the formless and expanding Dreamlands. "The Call of Cthulhu" is a must for arguably the most iconic figure in the franchise.

The Cthulhu Mythos is interesting in that the most well-known figure isn't a large part of the franchise, and the themes and stories could expand without the need to create an Avengers universe. With horror being the central genre, it allows for darker themes and imagery that audiences and filmmakers accept as being artistic and intelligent. The Cthulhu Mythos is a horror that forces audiences to accept that they are not the center of the universe, and power and motives are relative. The Mythos will arrive onscreen in a matter of time, and the darker ideologies presented will take film by storm.